Madera Union High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Madera, CA)

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IBIE NOBVAIK 1916 Rwi ze LA MS“Ib A Legend of the North Deltha Stevens We have all heard of the numerous beautiful legends which exist among our American Indians. These legends have arisen because the Indians in their ciude way have tried to find a reason for every phenomenon of nature. I have found, however, that there are just as many legends among the Eski- mos in the frozen North, and that many of them are even more beautiful than those with which we are so famil- iar. One in particular that appealed to me was a legend of the music of the Aurora Borealis, which was told to me by Old Nenook, a laborer at my un- cle’s mining camp in Circle City, Al- aska. This city is not more than fifty miles south of the Arctic Circle and is almost within the Zone of the Northern Lights. From its position one can guess that the summers are much more severe than our winters here in California. In fact, the snow leaves the ground in only a few places during the short sum- mer weeks. — Circle City is in the cen- ter of the mining district and is built up mostly of mining camps. Scattered about on the outer edges is an Eskimo village. These Eskimos are in a part- lv civilized state. Many of them can talk in broken English and nearly all of them speak French. They are a very interesting type of people, much more so that their cousins of Southern Alas- ka, as they have retained much of their originality in dress and habits. They are also very friendly, and many of the most valued laborers in the mines and about the camps are these Eskimo men. The older men in the village are great favorites among the white people as they spend their time in entertaining the children by making small trinkets for them and in telling them quaint stories. These ee ae presented an interest- ng and novel appearance to me when | first went to visit at my Uncle’s Camp. There was, however, another thing which seemed more novel and interest- ing to me than the life of these people. It was a strange phenomenon which is known as the ‘‘Northern Lights.” | iad often seen its faint reflection in he northern sky, but | had never until hat fall had the pleasure of viewing it in all its splendor. Nearly every evening the sky was illuminated by its eautiful reflection out across the snowy land. As the winter advanced, it became more beautiful, and a low, weird sound floated out upon the mid- night air. At first it seemed to cast a distressing gloom over me, but as | crew accustomed to it, learned to l